Morsons High. First Grading Period.
TWO days before the exam week. Hero started to worry about whom to copy in the upcoming exams. The teachers were keeping a close eye on his group because of the bullying complaints that were brought up to the admins so he could not force his cla
"HOWmany times do I have to tell you, don't go to Morsons?"Her cousin angrily pulled her and forced her to ride his "big bike."She stopped in front of his vehicle. "I am just checking things out, espe
THEnext day was Cas-U's culmination day for its week-long Foundation Day celebration. Max was walking alone to the campus after dinner when she heard the familiar noise of motorcycles behind her. She did not need to turn her head to know who they were.She made a left turn going to the Frisbee field just outside the exit gate of the campus. The Bikers followed her lead and stopped when she stopped walking. Then they surrounded her for a while before they turned off the engine of their bikes."Ganging up with a woman? How pathetic!" she mocked, showing a malignant sneer on her face.The guys climbed down from their vehicles and walked towards her. She scanned their faces. Vince wasn't among them, and she was more than sure it was Clint's idea."I thought your leader, Vince, said you mean me no harm," she confronted them, but she was looking at Clint, indirectly reminding him of the embarrassment she did to him the day before.
NEWSof Max's beating the Bikers spread like wildfire not only throughout Cas-U but throughout the entire Casa de Oro. Her classmates treated her like a VIP since then for fear that she might beat them up. Others even wanted to be her underlings.Meanwhile, her Uncle Rico summoned her again to confront her about what had happened."I just defended myself," she explained."That's not what I heard," he said."Then believe what you heard. I don't care," she said, her voice raised a notch in annoyance. "And if you have nothing else to say, I'll go back to my class," and she stood defiantly.When she came out of his office, she was shocked when a group of girl students met her."Hi, Max! I'm Rhian, the leader of the Women's Right Association at Cas-U." The woman in front introduced herself. "We heard about what you did with the Bikers. I just
"HERO, where's Kath? Why didn't you, two, come home together," asked his Aunt Belen when she saw Hero coming home alone as she was closing the eatery."She said she would stop by somewhere first," he replied. "Besides, Auntie, she doesn't want me to wait for her nor walk home with her. She's afraid someone will see us together.""And thinks you're a couple?"That's not it, he wanted to tell his aunt but he just kept it to himself. Max had warned him not to get too close to her. Part of him wanted to believe that she just wanted to be alone like any gangster did, but another part of him was saying Max just didn't want to cause him trouble. He knew she's going to meet those guys in the library. He wanted to stop her but what good would it bring for him? She would just be annoyed. Besides, what could he do if he went there with her? He already stopped fighting. He would just become a burden to her, just lik
"HEY, Hero!"Hero was awakened when Belen hit him with a pillow. "Hmmm..." he moaned lazily."Get up now! It's past seven o'clock. You'll be late for class," she told him.He suddenly rose and turned around when he remembered Max next to him. But there was not even her shadow. "Where's Max?""She left first. In fact, she was the one who went to the market. She told me not to wake you up just yet because you were up late studying last night. But now, you'll be late. Hurry up!"He quickly got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. After a while, he got dressed and ate a little before leaving. He was forced to ride a tricycle to Cas-U.
THEclass for the next subject was about to start when Max returned to her seat. She was just silent the whole period but deep inside she's brooding over what Cedric had said. Her thoughts were filled with catastrophic scenes if ever Hero and Liam would meet each other again here in Cas-U. Bloody fights were not new to her but it scared her to even think what one of them would do with the other."Max, are you okay?"Hero's whisper interrupted her thoughts and snapped her back to her senses. Only then did she realized that the class was already over and it's time to go home."Come on! I'm hungry.""Where are you going?" Lisa asked curiously."Well, I'm going home
"GOODmorning!!" Miggy and Lance greeted gleefully in unison when they arrived at Belen's cafeteria. It was still 5:45 in the morning and Hero was carrying a tray of fried eggs when he turned to see them."What are you doing here? It's still early," he asked in astonishment as he arranged the tray in the display counter."Didn't we tell you? Your aunt agreed to let us work here before the second sem," Lance replied."Isn't it right, Auntie?" Miggy asked his approaching aunt who was carrying another tray of viands.Belen put the tray next to his before she replied. "Yes. I thought you and Max needed more time to focus on your studies so these friends of yours should come in handy.""Alright! Come on. You, two, help us here. We'll be opening soon," he said.They entered the cafeteria and went straight to the kitchen where Belen was still c
"IT'Sher test paper that I submitted yesterday. I wrote my name on it, thinking it was mine because she told me so."Max just stayed silent, her fist clenched in annoyance and embarrassment as Hero did his confession in front of Mrs. Tuazon."Is this true, Max? But why would you do that?" the teacher asked her."That's true," she replied in a soft but unapologetic voice without taking her eyes off of him. "I just did both of us a favor. I knew my score will be in the top five, but I don't want to join the quiz bee. And here's someone so desperate to join. So I gave him my test paper.""Are you saying I can't get into the top five if I pass my own test paper?" Hero butt in, feeling insulted."Why, did you study?""How can I study? You know I took care of you and watched over you all night.""That's why I'm taking res
"SHE'snot coming with you."Hero's hard words stopped Max before she could respond to Liam's invitation. They were already leaving the campus. Since they had no other classes that day, they had agreed to hang out--just the two of them. It was when Liam suddenly came out of nowhere."Wait, what's your problem? Why are you forbidding Max? Who do you think you are?" Liam asked, irritated."You let her get wasted. Do you think that's what a responsible guy does?""I made sure Max got home safely last night.""And do you know what time that was? Do you know how worried we all were at home because he hadn't returned yet?""It's not my fault she didn't tell you. And why would she do that when you guys are the ones crashing at her place? You're the ones responsible for her!""You're right. And I should protect her from you.""You're really looking for trouble again, huh?"Max's head felt like it would expl
MAX couldn't help but laugh as she watched Hero's amused look as their lips parted. The young man blinked several times in disbelief. She snapped her fingers in front of him. "Silly! You're not dreaming or imagining things." "A-Are you sure?" "You kissed me and I kissed you back," she said with a smile. But the joy she expected on his face was replaced by confusion and he seemed to regret what he had done. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "Y-yeah. Sorry, I have to prepare for school. I'll wait for you downstairs." "Sure. I'm going to take a shower first," she nodded. Hero took the food and went out without looking back. She was left there standing, dumbfounded. He was gone for a while but she was still staring at the door as if he was going to come back in. She sighed in disappointment and shook her head violently. Maybe he was just shocked, she convinced herself. She took a quick shower and got herself ready for school. But she was now afraid to face him. She was afrai
HEROand his friends are feeling restless. Max isn't home yet and it was getting dark. His aunt started questioning him repeatedly."Hero, do you really not know where Max is? Something bad might have happened to her," she asked worriedly."Auntie, I really don't know. She suddenly left and didn't return to class. She also just left her things at school. I thought she went home first," he reasoned.His aunt was still restless. "I searched the entire house and didn't see her. Maybe she's with Liam. Do you have his number?"His friends looked at each other before looking at him. He suddenly lost interest in finding her after realizing that they might be spending time together. Why bother wh
"BYthe way, Auntie, our classmates will be here at three o'clock. Max will help us with our Science experiment," Hero informed his aunt as he finished eating."Yes, she called me. I will close at two o'clock in the afternoon to prepare this eatery for you," Belen calmly replied."Yeah, right," he said to himself."What's with your reaction? Did you, two, fight again?" his aunt asked him. He didn't know she would notice."Nothing," he replied before getting up and putting away his dishes."Don't mind him, Auntie. Hero is just jealous because Max is having a lunch date with Liam," Miggy teased him."Isn't he dangerous?" Lance asked worriedly.Miggy and Hero exchanged looks, before looking at Lance."Liam isn't a bad person like you think he is."They all turned their head when they heard Max's voice. Her face was dark and her gaze was sharp on him."If you have nothing good to say about him, j
"DARWIN, let's pair up," Max declared before Hero could utter a word.Darwin looked at her in confusion. "Huh?""Are you deaf?" she asked with a raised eyebrow."Of course not!" Darwin replied in annoyance. "Sure, I'll be your partner!""You wanted to be Hero's partner, don't you...Lindsay?" she asked, looking at Lindsay.Lindsay looked at her in both shock and embarrassment. Her classmate was obviously confused about what's happening but didn't dare complain about it."Why not? I'll be your partner, Lindsay," Hero answered cheerfully, but his eyes were fixed on her. Then he stood up and carried his book to Lindsay's side.Darwin immediately walked in and replaced Hero in his seat beside her.While Hero and Lindsay's pair were enthusiastic, Darwin and she were just too quiet. Unbeknownst to her, Darwin was carefully watching her as she was mindlessly scanning her book."How long are you gonna do what you
"HERO!It's Dana!""Why, what happened to Dana?""Her bag was found outside the school, but she wasn't there.""What?!"Hero's group immediately came out and helped each other find Dana. They asked the people around if they had seen her but no one could tell where his girlfriend was.Fifteen minutes later, Liam called him on his phone. "If you want to see your girlfriend, come to the former Garcia Trading warehouse near the San Antonio Fish Port. ALONE," he said, giving heavy emphasis on the word 'alone.' "Most importantly, don't tell anyone especially the police, or else..."
"HOW'SHero?" Max immediately asked as soon as she got to the eatery. She heard what had happened to him on the rooftop so she left the class and rushed home."Auntie, please be gentle! Ouch!" she heard Hero groaned from the kitchen before his two friends who were guarding the cafeteria could answer.She got past them and then straight to the kitchen. She was devastated to see his face, fist clenched in anger."Oh, Max! You're here!" said Belen who was the first to notice her. "Are you hungry? I'll fix your dinner after this."She secretly heaved a sigh and slowly let out some air to calm herself down. "I'm fine, Nanny. Let me take care of him for you. You can go back to the eatery.""Oh, thank you! And please tell him again not to roam anywhere so he won't get into trouble with some thugs. Look at him," she complained, shaking her head as she left the kitchen.Hero averted his eyes from her as she continued to treat hi
TWOweeks. Hero had been irritated for two long weeks since Liam's appearance in Cas-U, but much more so because Max had not been herself lately. Or rather, she was back to being the cold-hearted, ill-tempered gangster he once knew. Although it's really like her to beat people up when she's annoyed or mad, he suspected that Liam had something to do with what was happening to her. Her smile during the science quiz bee preparation had vanished, and worst, she punched him--much to his shock as she had never done it before, not that he thought she would never do it to him.The door of the detention office opened and Max came out of it. He was sitting on the bench in the lobby outside, then stood to meet her. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.She just stared at him. Then her gaze fixated o
"CLINGY!"Max pushed Hero lightly, pretending to hate his embrace when, in fact, she wanted it to last a little longer. She pulled herself together and get back to her composure. "It's time for class." She turned around and secretly giggled."Look who's talking! Hugging e like a pillow in the middle of the night," he murmured.She made a halt. Thankfully, she was not facing him so he did not see how red her face had become when she remembered what she did the night before the classroom quiz bee. She reset into her ill-tempered self before facing him again. "Are you blaming me now?" she asked with a raised eyebrow."No, I'm not," he replied defensively, returning to his new normal self. "I told you, I..."